The rags-to-riches story of KJ George, the closest aide of Karnataka CM

A protégé of Gundu Rao, who hailed from Somwarpet in Kodagu, George moved to Bengaluru during the Sanjay Gandhi era in search of a constituency

City development and planning minister Kelachandra Joseph George, 67, the third child of agriculturists from Kerala who moved to Gonikoppa in Karnataka’s Kodagu district in the 1960s, is considered to be the closest aide of Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah at present.

Siddaramaiah had no real association with George for most of his four-decades’ political career, but in the last five years, George became the man the CM trusts the most. Siddaramaiah seems to have taken a leaf out of another other Backward class CM, S Bangarappa, who counted George as one of his top three troubleshooters. “It is not clear why CMs trust George so much. The case was the same with Bangarappa, who made George the urban development and housing minister and took his advice on most things. Siddaramaiah made him home minister and often spends his evenings at George’s house. The liking is that high,” an associate of the CM told ET.

George is not very articulate, but the political class is in awe of the astuteness that helped a poor government school educated student become a multi-millionaire businessman who owns racehorses and leads a high-end lifestyle today. George, who reportedly began make earnings in the ship-breaking industry, is on record that he needs no corruption or government patronage as he legally earns crores from real estate and other businesses and pays taxes. It is said that he owns huge swathes of land in Bengaluru city and is more than a match for DK Shivakumar, minister in the Siddaramaiah government recently raided by the I-T Department. Both the leaders are said to be funders of the Congress and supposedly has close links to party president Sonia Gandhi.

A protégé of Gundu Rao, who hailed from Somwarpet in Kodagu, George moved to Bengaluru during the Sanjay Gandhi era in search of a constituency, as his home constituency Virajpetwas reserved for Scheduled Castes. He held powerful positions in the Youth Congress, was elected from Bharatinagar and won it consistently from 1985-94. His first ministerial stint was as transport minister in the Veerendra Patil ministry. He left the Karnataka Congress with Bangarappa and lost the election in 1994. He then built his business empire before winning the newly-formed Sarvagnanagar constituency, which he now represents.

The BJP has targeted him right from the beginning of this term, first accusing him of pressuring IAS officer DK Ravi to commit suicide under his watch as home minister. He was moved to city development portfolio but the suicide of DSP MK Ganapathi, after naming George as his tormentor, has given the BJP a big weapon to target the CM’s closest aide. George has consistently claimed that he is being framed.

He said he last met Ganapathi two years before his death. He has declined to resign after the CBI FIR named him first accused in abetment to suicide case. As of now, the Congress stands by him.